Monday, November 9

Honeymoon Day 4

Wednesday morning it was definitely a lot harder getting out of bed- we were getting slightly adjusted to the time change making waking up more of a task.

Knowing what the day had in store we reluctantly rolled out of bed, packed our things and headed to Ma'alea Harbor. It's a good 30 minute drive from Ka'anapali and we wanted to make it there with plenty of time to find the right slip on the harbor. It was a beautiful morning with perfect blue skies, I couldn't wait to get out on the ocean.

We walked around the harbor until we found our slip, and there she was, Maui Magic. We checked in and boarded the boat, grabbed some bagels for breakfast (which was a joke compared to the 5 star treatment we had been getting at our resort all week). Most of the guests on the boat wanted to sit up front so we decided to hit the top deck- it was a beautiful view. We finished our breakfast and listened to a safety lecture before heading out to sea.

On the way to our snorkeling destinations our captain gave a great history of the different places in Maui we were passing. He was a really great guide. About 30 minutes later we arrived to a beautiful location- I can't remember what it was called but it was right off of the coast and had some absolutely stunning lava formations. We stopped for the photo opp and headed back out to deeper waters.

It was here that we slowed down- our captain brought attention to a pack of wild spinner dolphins in the water. I had never seen wild dolphins before so I was very excited! It was amazing to watch them come to the surface and dive back down following the boat the entire time.

Soon the captain came back on and gave an incredible announcement. The visibility in the waters here was 150 feet! We would be using this spot as our first dive site! Everyone was buzzing with excitement, we all hoped the dolphins would stick around long enough for us to get in the water with them. After gearing up (I decided to rent a wet suit to keep a little warmer and was very glad I did- the water was incredibly brisk) we hopped into the water one by one. The coldness was a shock and anyone around me could hear the shortness of my breath and silly noises coming from my snorkel. I gained awareness of what was around me and realized that the pack of dolphins was right behind me!

There were probably 8-10 of them with a little baby, the largest one was around 5 or 6 feet long. The image of these beautiful creatures literally took my breath away. I couldn't believe I was swimming in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a pack of wild dolphins. Even the crew had jumped in the water to get involved in the action. Surprisingly they stuck around the entire time we were in the water- at one point I was a little over a foot away from touching one of their fins. They won't let you touch them though- and I don't blame them. :) Josh stayed back and watched them from a distance, when we were on the boat later he mentioned that every time he looked over, I was the closest one to them.

I had gotten pretty cold by this point so Josh and I decided to get back on the boat and warm up. I asked a crew member how often something like that happened and she replied, "Once in a blue moon." We felt so privileged.

It was now time to head to our final snorkeling destination, the Molokini Crater. This is one of the top ten places to snorkel in the entire world! We arrived to the crater, geared up and jumped back into the water- still just as cold. Everywhere you looked was corral and sea life. It was beautiful! Josh and I took advantage of our underwater camera and had fun taking pictures of each other being goofy. We saw so many different types of fish in all different colors. The pictures just don't do them justice.

Lots of thumbs ups!

After about 30-40 minutes in the water we got back on the boat to some delicious freshly grilled burgers. While we snorkeled our captain took advantage of the boat's grill and made everyone a yummy lunch. By this time most of the other snorkelers had gotten back on the boat and were swapping stories of what they saw. Two of them mentioned that further down the crater there were a couple of sharks swimming near them! Josh and I wanted so badly to jump back in the water and look for them but the warmth of the food in our stomachs was just too lovely. We would have to settle for their stories.

We made our way back to the harbor snuggled up on the top deck taking in the Hawaiian sun. It was the perfect adventure. About a mile or so off shore we came to a stop and the captain came back on the speakers- we had run into some sea turtles! Josh took the camera and tried to grab some pictures but the quality just wasn't that great. It was the one thing I wanted to see in Hawaii and here we were actually seeing them with our own eyes! So unreal.

Once back to the harbor we said our goodbyes (Josh got me an awesome t-shirt) and headed to our car. It was well after 1:00 by this point and we were both VERY tired. After returning to our resort we spent some time relaxing inside. It had been a wonderful, but very long, morning.

The dinners that we had had up to this point were okay- the best being our first night with Pulehu (the Italian place). Both of us were craving an amazing meal with a juicy fillet Mignon so we showered and got all dressed up to head back to Lehaina. Here in Texas, Josh and I stick to our favorite steak places, H3 Steak House, Saltgrass, Outback and Texas de Brazil. We've never ventured out to anything else because we've never needed to! Unfortunately the only one of those in Hawaii is an Outback- and we wanted something a little fancier, so we decided to go to Ruth's Chris Steak House.

The server was very nice- definitely a surfer dude- but the food... the food was absolutely incredible. We both ordered fillets and shared a family order of mashed potatoes. I couldn't believe how delicious the steak was- finally what I had been craving all week! We stuffed our faces and filled our stomachs when the waiter brought out a surprise desert... a tray of chocolate covered strawberries as a congratulations on our honeymoon. They were pretty good, but didn't compare to the ones I had on our wedding night. :)

With full tummies and smiles on our faces we headed back to our resort to get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow we would drive the road to Hana and we definitely needed to be well rested for that!